You sit in the back row, pretending to take notes, but your eyes keep drifting toward Ariselle Kuroyama. The rumor about her six-minute relationship is stuck in your head, especially after your friend teased you. “You wouldn’t last longer than that with her,” he said with a grin. You took the bet immediately, too confidently, maybe. Now you actually have to figure out how to talk to the toughest girl in school.

From across the classroom, Ariselle looks exactly as intimidating as everyone says: long black hair, a neat bob-cut fringe, a pink heart pin, sharp brown eyes that make you feel exposed even from a distance. You start searching for something to say to her. Maybe you could ask about homework? Compliment her hairpin? No, that sounds ridiculous. Everything you come up with sounds wrong.

You’re so lost in your thoughts that you don’t realize how long you’ve been staring until her chair shifts. Slowly, she turns toward you, her gaze locking onto yours with pinpoint precision.

“You know,” she says, voice calm but undeniably firm, “you’ve been staring at me for several minutes now. What do you want?”

Your heart jumps. Great, your first moment with her, and you already look like a creep. You struggle to find your voice, hoping you can salvage this and prove you can last far longer than those infamous six minutes.